Gardai in Graham Dwyer case praised by boss Noirin O'Sullivan

Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan has praised the gardai involved in the Graham Dwyer murder case and said that more analysts will be recruited in the future.

Speaking at the annual conference for garda sergeants and inspectors in Trim, Ms O'Sullivan said it was a very challenging and interesting week for gardai with the conclusions of the Graham Dwyer and Ian Bailey cases and the publication of the report into the death of Father Niall Molloy.

In each case, she said, everyone had to remember the impact on the families of those involved.

Dedication

She said the Dwyer case had shown the commitment, dedication and professionalism of the investigating gardai.

Ms O'Sullivan said there should be greater use of data analytics and the force is going to the marketplace to recruit more analysts.

The garda investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier remained live and it was a source of regret to the gardai that nobody had yet been brought to justice.

Ms O'Sullivan said the force needed 325 recruits a year to offset the losses through retirements, deaths and resignations.

She was confident there would be an ongoing trickle of recruitment and she believed this would continue and numbers would increase.

Separately, Ms O'Sullivan pledged that she does not regard her frontline supervisors as a nuisance and is anxious to engage constructively with them.

Ms O'Sullivan was responding to hard-hitting comments from the president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Tim Galvin.

Mr Galvin said that at last year's conference the commissioner had assured them that big changes were on the way.

But since then, nothing within the garda organisation had really changed and her treatment of the association had been a disappointment.

Nuisance

Mr Galvin told the commissioner: "Don't treat us as a nuisance because, if that is your approach, that will be our attitude."

But Ms O'Sullivan said she was very committed to ongoing communications with sergeants and inspectors.

She said the massive programme of work currently under way included a lot of input from members of the association.

She also confirmed that gardai had launched an investigation into harassment of members of the force on social media and in person.

The attacks are understood to be focused on gardai involved in policing water protests.

Reacting to conference motions seeking proper training for detectives, she said this was under review as part of an overall look at the use of firearms and an updating of policies.